Designed by James Corner Field Operations — the group behind New York City’s High Line and the Seattle Central Waterfront — Icebergs is the new, one-of-a-kind destination for this summer at the National Building Museum in Washington DC. Representing a beautiful, underwater world of glacial ice fields spanning the Museum’s enormous Great Hall, the immersive installation emphasizes current themes of climate change, ice melt and other modern-day environmental worries.
Icebergs features many elements in a variety of sizes and built of re-usable construction materials such as scaffolding and polycarbonate paneling, a material commonly used in building greenhouses. A “water line” suspended 20 feet high bisects the vertical space, allowing panoramic views from high above the ocean surface and down below among the towering bergs. The tallest “bergy bit,” at 56 feet, reaches above the waterline to the third story balcony of the Museum. The installation occupies a total area of 12,540 square feet.
Visitors are able to ascend a viewing area inside the tallest berg, traverse an undersea bridge, relax among caverns and grottoes on the ocean floor, sample Japanese kakigori shaved-ice snacks provided by Daikaya restaurant, and participate in unique educational programming integrating landscape architecture, design, and the environment.
Icebergs will be open to the public until Sept. 5. Tickets are $16 USD for adults and $13 USD for youth, students and seniors.
all images by Timothy Schenck | courtesy of the National Building Museum